Links: 2009-06-08

“One trigger for a relapse, some of the double-dippers say, is a likely clampdown on government spending and a hike in interest rates within the coming year. “The question is going to be,” said Mr. Rosenberg, “… what happens at the time that the Fed and the federal government start to withdraw their stimulus?””

“All told, after controlling for the district’s partisan affiliation, male-dominated districts were more than twice as likely to elect a Congresswoman as were female-dominated districts.”

“A gene well known to stop or suppress cancer plays a role in cancer stem cells”

“Global current account surpluses and deficits add up to zero. So if everybody is saving more, who will be dissaving? It will have to be the corporate sector in the countries with large net exports. So if the US, the UK and Spain are heading for a more balanced current account in the future, so will the surplus countries…Germany will be down and out for a long time with a huge and still unresolved banking crisis, an overshooting exchange rate and lower net exports, presided over by politicians who panic about domestic inflation. This will not end well.”

“The global airline industry is facing an unprecedented crisis and is likely to lose $US9 billion ($11.3 billion) this year, nearly double an estimate made just three months ago, the International Air Transport Association said on Monday.”

“Three Indiana state funds late Saturday asked the United States Supreme Court to delay a deal to sell most of Chrysler’s assets to Fiat, hoping to again challenge the transaction after two lower courts approved it.”

“The battle for dominance of the lucrative “smartphone” market will step up a gear on Monday as Apple is widely expected to launch a new version of the iPhone.”

“Economists at Ernst & Young say it will take until 2017 for Scotland to return to 2008 levels of employment.”

“The crisis per se does not weaken the powerful. Sure, a few of them may go bankrupt, but this just increases further the concentration of economic power or, if you prefer, their market share. It is for good reason that Jamie Dimon, ever the master of CEO semiotics, said to his shareholders recently: 2008 “might have been our finest year ever.” Most countries are doomed to this oligarchy-boom-bust-oligarchy cycle. The US broke free or at least temporarily broke away from versions of this cycle, arguably, three times already (Jackson, Roosevelt I, Roosevelt II). Each time the reform process took 5-10 years; perhaps longer from start to finish. Can we do it a fourth time and how long will that take?”

“I have often told listeners that I feel Americans need their own change — a perestroika, not like the one in my country, but an American perestroika — and the reaction has been markedly different. Halls filled with thousands of people have responded with applause”

“The Baltic Dry Index – a measure of freight rates for iron ore and bulk commodities – rose non-stop for 23 sessions until Wednesday, before declining somewhat Thursday. This surge represents a gain of 517% from its low on December 5. But one needs to put this in perspective: The Index fell by 94% from its high in May 2008, and therefore still needs to rise by a further 188% to match the previous peak. More importantly, this rise seems to be more than a snap-back rally and points to better economic tidings”